


When You Find Your Way Home

by DrWhoIsGinnyHolmes



Series: Playmate Wanted [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bars and Pubs, F/M, Healer Draco Malfoy, Matchmaker Paddy, Matchmaker Pansy Parkinson, Multi, Not Epilogue Compliant, Pub Owner Malfoy, Quidditch Player Ginny Weasley, The Quibbler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 08:01:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6696544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrWhoIsGinnyHolmes/pseuds/DrWhoIsGinnyHolmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of the prequals to Playmate Wanted:<br/>1) Ginny and Draco<br/>2) Mentioned Pansy and Ron<br/>3) Shades of Blaise/Luna/Neville</p>
            </blockquote>





	When You Find Your Way Home

“So what's a lion like you doing in a snake pit like this?” 

“Trying to forget my last game.”

“Aren't we all.” He swallowed the rest of his firewhiskey in one gulp as he ducked her light swat. “Here. Let me help” He motioned to the bartender for another round and scoffed at the bottle he was handed. “Really Paddy? The good stuff please.” 

Ginny snorted. “Since when does Draco Malfoy say please?” 

Draco chuckled. “Since I share my best firewhiskey with the Weaslette.” He winked at her as he poured two full shots. She smirked and her eyes took on a mischievous gleam. His eyes widened almost imperceptibly at the way HIS smirk looked on her face. It was, dare he say, devastatingly hot.

“Alright then, Ferret, bottoms up. Let's see if you can keep up.” It was her turn to wink.

“You’re on, Red.” 

They slammed down their first shot and a sensual hum left her lips at the exquisite burn the alcohol trailed down her throat. “That was fantastic.” Draco smirked and poured two more shots. He went to reach for his when her light touch stopped him. “Wait, Drake. Just let it sit for a minute.” She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, exposing her distractingly creamy complexion. She lightly ran her fingers from the back of her neck down to her collarbone and rested it on her chest. Draco turned to the bartender with a raised eyebrow and he shrugged in response, but he could tell Paddy was tense. No one calls the boss Drake and gets away with it, except his closest friends, and even then it's rare. 

“How much has Baby Weasel had to drink tonight, Paddy?” Draco heard a small growl emanate from the irate redhead next to him. He turned and she was glaring at him with a snarl on her lips. His eyes widened perceptively this time and he motioned discreetly to the bartender to back away. He remembered from experiences that she was a bit hex happy when she was angry.

“Baby?!” Ginny exploded and grabbed her drink roughly before shooting it quickly and reaching for the bottle for a refill. This time Draco’s hand stilled hers. 

“Ginevra, I meant no harm. Let’s take this to my office and we can talk.”

“I don’t want to talk. I want to drink. Now are you with me or not?” He knew a serious challenge when he saw one and wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him by. His response was to slam back his shot and pour two more. A wide grin broke out on her face. “That’s more like it ferret face! Paddy! Two glasses of ice water please; things are going to get interesting.” 

Three shots later they were laughing and yelling and telling stories about Hogwarts and Ministry functions like they were best friends. The bartender, Paddy was trying to quiet them down, but they were having none of it. Finally, his resolve snapped and he addressed Draco with as much calm and respect as he could. Their noise and brash attitudes were starting to frighten the paying customers. 

“Boss, I really think you two should take it back to a private room or your office. You’re scaring off the customers.” Draco turned towards Paddy, slightly swaying in his seat. His attempt at a hard scowl fell flat when he heard a whiny voice break through the din. 

“Drakey, darling! Time to go home!” Pansy Parkinson had walked in and ruined his perfectly euphoric mood. She gave a tight wave to the the bartender and mouthed ‘Thank you.’

Draco closed his eyes and his head dropped back with a groan. He almost fell off his seat, but was stopped by the hard edge of the bar behind him. Ginny giggled at his antics and placed her hand on his thigh to prevent herself from toppling over. Draco’s eyes snapped opened and were drawn to the warmth that radiated from her grip, which became tight upon the sound of Pansy’s voice. She turned her head towards the noise and a grin began to form on her face. She pounced on Pansy with a shriek as soon as she got close. 

“Pansy, love! What took you so long?!” Ginny pecked her on the cheek and gave her a bone crushing hug. Pansy's eyes were bouncing between Ginny and Draco with an amused glint. Draco’s eyes were wide with surprise and Paddy was trying to contain his guffaws. Pansy reached out and shut Draco’s dropped jaw with her eyes on Ginny. 

“I’m sorry Ginevra, I was held up at home, but I see you found the place just fine. Draco, darling, you’re staring.” He shook his head a bit and glared at her.

“You didn’t tell me Draco owned the pub. You're not playing fair, Pans.” Ginny pouted and Draco couldn't help but think she looked quite attractive when she stuck her bottom lip out like that.  _ I want her. I’m not waiting any longer.  _ He quickly spun his body towards Ginny and roughly grabbed the back of her head . He pulled her towards him, solidly planting his lips on hers before she could voice protest. His fingers tangled themselves in her luxurious red tresses as his other hand grabbed her waist and tried to pull her, stumbling, between his legs. Ginny placed her hands onto his chest and pushed enough to break the kiss, but not enough to push him off his barstool. She raised one hand to slap him, but Pansy grabbed her wrist. Ginny released a growl and her head snapped towards Pansy, who in turn took a step back releasing her wrist. She noticed Ginny’s pupils were blown wide and the gleam was dangerous rather than playful. 

“Paddy, a private room please.” Pansy held out her hand towards the bartender who, instead of giving her a key for a private room, gave her the spare key for Draco’s office/quarters above the bar. She gave him a questioning look, which he responded to by indicating his head towards Draco. Her eyes widened as she took in his expression. Draco’s pupils were also blown wide, but his eyes were narrowed. Both Ginny and Draco seemed to be in defensive positions and she needed to get them out of the bar as fast as possible. “Boys, hold down the fort. Paddy, get Draco, I’ll get Ginevra. They can figure out their issues upstairs.” Before Pansy grabbed Ginny’s arm, she poured everyone a shot. “Bottom’s up! Here’s to hoping the pub will still be standing tomorrow.” That is what snaps Draco out of his stupor. 

“Why wouldn’t my pub be standing tomorrow?” His voice come out husky as he took his eyes off Ginny to assess Pansy. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Pansy saw Ginny shimmy up to the bar and shoot the two waiting glasses. Just as Pansy was turning towards Ginny to scold her, Ginny’s hand shot out and grabbed Draco’s loosened tie. She pulled his head down towards hers and kissed him hard. It wasn’t one of those passionate kisses that most women dream about or even lust filled one that most men wanted, but one of solid promises, conflict, and compromise all at once. Draco’s eyes widened at the sudden feel of soft lips and sharp flavor pushed hard against his teeth as he was pulled off his barstool. He shut his eyes and was about to respond when Ginny broke the kiss and playfully nipped his lower lip. Their eyes met and she quirked an eyebrow at him. With a small twitch at the side of her lips, her whisper came out low and throaty, but with a definite edge. 

“The count is 7 to 5, ferret face. Keep up.” Ginny winked at him and he growled while pouring himself two more shots. She swiped the key from Pansy’s hand while turning towards her. Ginny placed a finger under Pansy’s jaw closing her mouth, as Pansy had done with Draco only moments before. “Pansy, love, you’re staring. Now go see Ron please. I can take care of Draco tonight.” Draco sputtered at her words after taking one shot, not even noticing the last words she spoke. 

“You’re dating Weasley?! Why...How...huh?” Both Pansy and Ginny laughed. 

“Very eloquent, Draco. Ginevra, love, are you sure you can take it from here? I promised Ronnie I’d come over after I checked on you. I’ll let him know you’re...ahem...busy, I mean, okay, I mean...at home.” At this statement Ginny’s eyes softened and she let go of Draco’s tie. She threw her arms around Pansy and gave her a tight hug. 

“Thanks Pans. I owe you one.” Ginny whispered. 

Draco, in his slightly inebriated state, desired to claim their attention once again and raised his voice. “I’ll accept you two as friends because it makes a bit of sense, but Weaselbee?! What in the name of Merlin and Morgana happened?! Where was I?” Pansy laughed at that while Ginny poured more firewhiskey in the remaining shot glasses. 

“Remember the last Ministry function? You had your eye on this one woman the entire time. You were sulking in the corner until you got paged to St. Mungo's.” Draco’s cheeks tinged pink at Pansy’s words and his eyes flitted over to Ginny and back almost too quick for her to notice. A smirk graced Ginny’s lips causing Draco to scowl. Pansy laughed. “She already knows Draco. Besides, you weren’t the only one staring.” A blush crept up Ginny features as Draco’s eyebrows disappeared into his hair. 

Pansy let out a huff of impatience. “You two were eyeing each other all night. It was making me nauseous. So I grabbed two firewhiskeys and drifted over to Ronnie, who seemed to have the same green tinged look of disgust upon his face.” Ginny snorted lightly and handed herself and Pansy a shot. Draco was looking at everything but the two beautiful woman in front of him. This is not a story he wanted to hear about one of his best mates, but unfortunately he did ask and of course she was going to tell him. “So after Ron got over his initial shock of sharing drinks with the ‘big bad Slytherin Princess’ we ended up talking about Quidditch, mostly....” Pansy’s cheeks tinged pink when her sentence trailed off. Draco voiced his indignation and took his shot. 

“Do not continue your story. I’m not sure I can stomach it and I highly doubt Ginevra would like to see what I had for supper. It would completely destroy what I have planned for us tonight.” Ginny scoffed at his words.

“Who says I don’t already have plans for tonight?”

“You don’t. You wouldn’t still be here if you did.” 

“Actually I do.” Draco’s smirk faltered slightly and Ginny couldn’t help but chuckle mischievously. “A ferret I know owes me another round and I intend to take him up on the offer.” Draco shook his head  at the slight with a small quirk of the lips. 

“Actually we’re even now, but I think it's time we moved something else. Paddy, the green bottle please. Care to accompany me to my flat, Ginevra? I don't have to be at St. Mungo’s until late morning; perks of graduating early.” He offered Ginny his free arm and she wrapped hers around it, placing her unconsumed shot on the counter.

“I’d love to, Draco.” He involuntarily shivered at the way his given name rolled off her pouty red lips. Ginny snuck a wink at Pansy and wiggled her fingers in a odd wave reminiscent of Luna. “Don't wait up!” Pansy smiled when Ginny rested her head on Draco’s shoulder and he dropped a kiss atop it as they headed upstairs. 

“Well Paddy, I guess the time has come. Thanks for the call, but I don’t think I’ll need to look after him anymore. Cheers!” She clinked her shot glass against the one Paddy was holding and they both finished the remaining liquid. “Goodnight dear.” Pansy turned and walked out into the night. 

Paddy caught a faint pop before the front door closed and he smiled to himself.  _ Two down, one to go,  _ he thought as he glanced over at the back corner of the pub. Sitting alone at a table, completely oblivious to the sights and sounds surrounding him, was one very forlorn and brooding Blaise Zabini. In addition to being Draco’s other best mate, he was also the pubs financial advisor and was in attendance almost every night. Blaise drained the last of his drink and quickly stood up. Paddy called him over. “Oi! Mr. Zabini, a minute?” 

“What is it Paddy? Make it quick and stop calling me Mr. Zabini. It's Blaise for Merlin’s sake.” Blaise dropped his head in his hands and scrubbed his eyes. He looked tired and aggravated. Paddy was hoping he could pull this off without looking suspicious. He handed Blaise a blank yellow business card. Blaise gave him an incredulous look. 

“The card is charmed. Tap it twice with your wand it it will tell you how to solve all your problems.” Paddy was nervous, but did not show it outwardly. Blaise had been moping around the pub every day for weeks after his last break-up and Paddy knew it was time to act. 

“Why not?” Blaise shrugged his shoulders and tapped the card twice. His eyes widened a bit at the words formed on the card and he laughed out loud. It had been weeks since Paddy had heard that hearty laugh and it was wonderful. If he thought himself attracted to any man, it would have been Blaise Zabini and his wife Andrea might agree. Blaise’s laugh brought a smile to his face and he felt glad he could help. 

“Good news, Mr...Blaise?” 

“We shall see, Paddy.” Blaise dropped the card on the bar and began walking towards the exit. He stopped halfway to the door and turned back towards the bar. “Thank you.” He gave a slight head tilt and exited swiftly. 

Paddy chuckled to himself as he read the card. It said:

**L & L**

**Procurers/sellers of spectacular oddities,**

**Inventors of thinly veiled insults and revenge,**

**Potions and herbs for the world weary person.**

**Inquire at The Quibbler**


End file.
